Some €2,000 were stolen from a Lija residence this morning while the woman who lives there was at 6 a.m. Mass.

The woman, 72, who lives alone, found the front door of her house in Bakery Street forced open and cash and items of jewellery were missing.

The police are understood to be reviewing footage from a nearby security camera as part of their investigations. The German ambassador's residence is just across the road.

Magistrate Jacqueline Padovani Grima is holding an inquiry.